HFCS: effika’s blog

September went by quickly.

I’ve started keeping a book of days. Each day of the year has its own page, and each line corresponds to a year. I can never journal properly anymore, but it’s easy to think of one line of possibly-interesting stuff I did each day. The notebook I’m using has enough space for 36 years of entries. It will be interesting to look back on, if I don’t lose it or forget about it.

I did a lot of re-organizing in September. The temperatures dropped 20-30ºF (making them quite seasonable) almost exactly on September 1st, so I took advantage of the chance to open windows and clear out some dusty clutter.

I also started playing trombone again. I’d been lugging my poor horn (a beat-up Conn 50H from the early 70’s) around with me for the past 9 years, never once having played it. I am pretty awful right now, but I’m getting better. The internet is amazingly helpful– I wish I’d had all these resources when I was first learning! Sure, I had alt.music.trombone and Trombone.org and the trombone-L, but I didn’t have Youtube. Do you know how great it is to easily and quickly find really excellent trombonists playing pieces? It has made re-learning on my own go that much quicker. I am also enjoying how much more workshop material is on-line— already my high range is consistently better than it ever was in high school.

I plan to join a community band in January, one that is open to all, even people who’ve never even played an instrument. I will use that to find somebody to take lessons with, and my ultimate goal is to be able to audition and get a spot in the good community band.

At the contemporary dance show tonight there was a dancer about my size (although her thighs were curvy with muscle, whereas mine are curvy with gelatto). She appeared so tiny and fragile next to everybody else, despite everyone around her being thin, too.

I rarely get to see somebody my own height when I am not at eye level to them– up close we all look about the same. I saw her after the show, and the appearance of frailty was gone. Perhaps it was the stage that made it so, but I wonder– from far away do all of us shorter people look close to being blown away by a stiff breeze?